USAA scrambles to process 16,500 claims from hail storm

A Honda damaged by hail is in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Helotes after a storm swept through the area last night.

A Honda damaged by hail is in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Helotes after a storm swept through the area last night.

Photo: John Davenport, San Antonio Express-News

Photo: John Davenport, San Antonio Express-News

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A Honda damaged by hail is in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Helotes after a storm swept through the area last night.

A Honda damaged by hail is in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Helotes after a storm swept through the area last night.

Photo: John Davenport, San Antonio Express-News

USAA scrambles to process 16,500 claims from hail storm

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Insurers are scrambling to respond to calls from customers who sustained property damage from Tuesday night’s rain storm, which pummeled parts of San Antonio and the surrounding area with golf-ball and baseball-sized hail.

USAA received about 11,000 auto claims and 5,500 property claims as of about 11 a.m., but the company expects those numbers will climb.

“This is one of the most impactful events we’ve seen in the San Antonio area in recent history, as far as hail goes,” said Cat Reese-Woodard, catastrophe-operations director. “We’re seeing a lot of damage to roofs, but also because of the size of the hail, we’re seeing damage to siding, holes in decking, issues with the exterior of the house where hail made impact, broken windows.”

The hail was up to four inches wide, she added.

State Farm, the state’s largest insurer received a lot of auto and other claims from Helotes and Kirby, but the company doesn’t specfically break out claims by area, said spokesman Chris Pilcic.

Safelite AutoGlass in San Antonio has received close to 4,000 glass-replacement requests since 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, said District Manager Josh Naylor at about 12:30 p.m. today. It typically handles about 100 to 150 jobs a day, but that likely will increase by 2½ times, he said. Demand is so great it’s scheduling appointments for mid-May.

“Safelite has a castrophic response program, so we’re sending technicians in from all over the country to be able to help meet the needs of the customers in the city,” Naylor said. He estimates there could be more than 20,000 glass-replacement claims generated by the storm.

Tuesday night’s storm also damaged businesses throughout the city, including the North Star Mall where at least five of the skylights were broken and it was raining “inside" the mall, said Mona Gallegos, who works at the Godiva chocolate store.

The H-E-B store at Loop 1604 and Bandera was forced to close as a result of hail damage, but spokeswoman Dya Campos expects it to reopen this evening.

“I honestly thought someone was just banging on the rails outside,” she said, adding that there was glass and water “everywhere.”

Some San Antonio-area homeowners could be in for a shock if they’ve never filed a claims relating to hail damage, said N. Alex Winslow, executive director of Texas Watch, an Austin-based consumer group.

Some insurers have shifted from charging a flat dollar amount for deductibles to charging a deductible that is a percentage of the home’s insured value. And the percentage for wind and hail claims is typically higher than other types of claims, such as fire and theft, Winslow said.

While the deductible on a fire claim might be 1 percent of a home’s value, it can be 2 to 3 percent and as high as 5 percent of the insured value of the house. That means for a $250,000 house, the deductible could range from $5,000 to $12,500 depending on the policy.

“The amount of money that claimants are having to put up front before the insurance company pays anything has gone up dramatically in the last several years,” Winslow said. “This is not every policy. But this has become the norm in the market.”

It’s quite possible, depending on the home and the deductible amount, that a homeowner could bear the entire repair costs because the expense doesn’t rise to the level of the deductible.

“So you’re kind of hit twice there, because you’ve filed the claim and now you’ve got a claim on your record, even though the insurance company doesn’t pay because you don’t reach the threshold of your deductible,” Winslow said.

While it might seem sensible to get an estimate of the out-of-pocket cost before filing a claim, Winslow said his organization typically advises starting the claims process as quickly as possible.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America warned of unscrupulous roofing contractors and public adjusters who might use the storm “to profit off of the misfortune of storm victims.” It advised property owners to contact their insurer first.

“It’s … important for homeowners to realize there are fraudsters waiting to take advantage of those who may have damage to their home and are in the process of filing a claim,” Joe Woods, PCI’s vice president of state government relations in Texas, said in a statement.

The PCI also advises homeowners to save receipts for repairs, secure property from further damage or theft and photograph damage to provide your insurance adjusetor.

Texas isn’t considered part of the “hail belt,” composed of states in the Great Plains and Midwest, but it does get its share of severe hail storms. State Farm reported last month that Texas had more hail and wind damage claims than any other state in 2015. Texas had 52,477 hail claims. Runner-up Illinois had 26,975. Texas also had the most wind claims, 11,183, finishing just ahead of Georgia, which had 11,018.